triumph of fascism over liberalism in Japan and
a Japanese father wants his Americanized son to be part of the Sino-Japanese War

Spoiler Warning: below is a summary of the
entire film.

"This is a true-to-life story of Japan. The characters are imaginary
but the incidents are real. The episodes are based on actual facts,
verified and authenticated."

The relatives of the war dead are handed out the ashes of their loved ones.
Reo Seki receives the ashes of his son Taro Seki. Reo thinks back about
what happened to him and his son that brought them to this. So he
writes a letter to his son explaining just what did happen to them. He
writes that his and his son's fates were written in the streets of Tokyo in
1936. They had no part in the military uprising. His son had not yet
returned from America and he was safe at home.

But not far from the city was a friend who was not so safe, namely Mr. Takahashi,
the last liberal in Japan. And on that morning he stood alone. The
military of the uprising comes to his house. They kill the guard at his
front door. Takahashi asks the officer what will be his pleasure? He
answers: "Our pleasure it that you should die!" You must die, the
officer says, because Sato Watanabe Matsuo also died tonight. And it's
death to all foreigners and you are now a foreigner. The officer takes out
his Samurai sword and kills the liberal. Reo Seki writes that the whole
nation mourned for Takahashi. But the uprising continued anyway.

The day Takahashi died, was the day Taro Seki returned from America.
Dad had not seen his son for a long time. Taro had been studying at Cornel
University in New York State. Fresh from the States, Taro acts very much
like an American. He has to be reminded to take off his shoes before
entering their home. He greets his grandmother too casually and has to be
reminded how to act. They have dinner together with lots of guests.
One guest toasts to the Emperor and the family!

Taro studied engineering at Cornell and he wants to be an engineer in Japan.
So he goes to the best engineer, which is an Irish-American named
O'Hara. O'Hara tells him he was expecting him because he received some
letters of recommendation for him. O'Hara has been in Japan for twenty
years and is considered the best engineer in the country. His secretary is
named Tama Shimamura. He is highly laudatory of her abilities.

Boris, a Russian newspaperman, speaks with Reo Seki. He says that the
forces behind the military knocked off Prime Minister Ohara in 1921, Prime
Minister Yamaguchi in 1930 and in 1932, Enui, Berendian and Inoki. And in
1936 it's been Watanabe, Saito and Takahashi. All the assassinated
politicians were
liberals. Boris asks Reo if he is afraid that maybe he will be next.
No, he is not concerned. He says, there is always an Emperor. In
fact, the Emperor is setting up a special court-martial for all the leaders of
the uprising. And Reo stands with the Emperor and the Army.

Reo speaks to his son and tells him that the Japanese will control the world.
And he wants his son to be something more than just an engineer.

Sara Braden, a newswoman working in China, comes to see O'Hara who is at the bar
with some of the boys, including Taro. She tells O'Hara that she wants him
to marry her. O'Hara seems a bit nervous about the idea. Sara is
also concerned about the fate of China. The German Max says that Japan has
no designs on China, but Sara doubts that. Sara tells O'Hara that she is
not joking about marriage. So O'Hara rushes off with the boys to a geisha
house.

The guys play cards at the geisha house. Lefty keeps hearing a cat
whine and shoots at it, but misses. He goes back to playing cards.
Soon a police inspector arrives. He asks about a cat that has been shot.
Lefty tells him that no cat has been shot. He missed. The inspector
ignores this and keeps asking him questions. Suddenly, the inspector asks
Taro if his father is Reo Seki? Yes, he is. The inspector
apologizes for the interruption saying that the alleged cat was not shot from
here. The guys are impressed that Taro's father is so powerful in Japan.

Reo Seki says that Taro started living his own life, but he was still hopeful
that he could bend his son to his will. But he had not counted on
Tama. Tora really likes her and they start dating. He takes her to a
baseball game. Lefty is the coach of one of the teams. He is
skeptical of this militarization of Japan. Now instead of just enjoying a
baseball game, the Japanese must enjoy baseball as a military exercise. Reo
comments that Japan was now a warrior state and they all had to act accordingly.
He writes to his son that the son was blind to much of what was going on in
Japan.

Taro has been dating Tama now for seventeen months. At a restaurant he
asks her to be his wife. Tama reminds him that in Japan marriages are
arranged. So, says Taro, he will arrange it with his father. Tama says in
that case she will marry him. O'Hara breaks up the happy moment because
the military guys at the bar are getting out of hand. He says there was an
incident at the Marco Polo bridge. In the Japanese paper is the headline lie:
"Chinese Attack Japanese Forces!"

Taro speaks with his father. Reo tells him that Japan is still a feudal
society and a few powerful families in Japan even control the Emperor. He
cannot marry Tama. He must marry well to secure the financial situation
for the family. Taro says he will take his chances at the bottom in order
to marry Tama. At this moment Taro receives his draft notice. Taro
is none to sure of this, but his father tells him this is good because in six
months he will be an officer.

Dad writes that he lost his son to the war in China. Neither man wrote
to the other. One year later dad learned that his son was in one of the
Northern occupied provinces of China. He learned it via Sara Braden, the American
newspaper woman in China. Bumping into a Japanese soldier, the soldier
slaps Sara and tells her that will teach her not to bump into a soldier of
Japan. She is really upset by this. She runs into Taro. He
apologizes for the incident but says there really isn't much he can do about it.
He admits that sometimes the men get a little out of hand.

The Japanese give out opium to Chinese civilians. Taro objects to this,
but his superior officer tells him that it is an easy way to control the city
with fewer men.

Tama goes to see Taro's father to share with dad the letters she has received
from Taro. But he refuses to see her. The servants keep telling her
that he is not in.

Sara Braden goes to Taro to object to what the soldiers are doing right
outside his window. She asks him to get up, go to the window and look for
himself! He does so. A Japanese throws a young child up in the air
and bayonets it. Taro only says they are not his men, so it's not his
responsibility. Sara Braden is disgusted with him and leaves. Taro
gets up and closes the shutters to shut out most of the noise of the screaming
outside.

Tama knows that Taro's dad never speaks of Taro anymore. But she is
still determined to get in to see Reo Seki. This time she goes to his
office. When the secretary steps out, Tama steps into Reo Seki's office.
She tells him she has some letters from her son to her that he might want to
read. Reo says he does not want to read his son's letters. Tama
works on him some more and he finally tells her to leave the letters there and
come back to see him tomorrow. Tama does what she is told.

The Japanese rope off a whole village. Only the women are left in the
village. All the women are now deemed to be prostitutes and must service
any Japanese soldier.

Tama has won over Reo Seki to her side. She brings more letters to him
and grandmother. Reo Seki says that Tama is a very good girl.
Grandmother is so enthused about Tama that she wants Tama to be Taro's wife.
She tells her son to arrange for a friend to adopt Tama to put her in a higher
social class and then she will be as good as "us". In one of the letters
Taro says that he's coming home. Tama is so happy and she quickly tells
everyone.

Taro and Tama hug. Then they both go into O'Hara's office where they
have set up a little reception party for Taro. Dad is there and he greets
his son. The guys all comment that Reo Seki is the new minister of
propaganda in Japan. Then everyone toasts to Taro. Sara Braden
arrives and objects to the toast saying that they should rather toast to the
poor children killed under Taro in China. Taro takes this as an insult to
the Emperor and wants to confront Sara. O'Hara stands in his way and tells
him he cannot hit a woman. So Taro challenges O'Hara to fight.

A sort of duel is arranged. But neither Taro or O'Hara fight.
Each man selects a substitute. So Lefty the boxer has to face Taro's
wrestler. Lefty wins the match. O'Hara, seeing the anger seething
among the Japanese, tells Lefty that they better get out of there and quick!

O'Hara, upon request, goes to visit Reo Seki. Reo apologizes for his
son. But he thinks it's time for O'Hara to go home. He
says there is going to be war with America and there is nothing he can do to
stop it. He's not afraid that Japan will lose, but that Japan will win.
He says he doesn't think Japan is suited to rule the world. He
mentions to O'Hara that he surely has seen what Japan has done to his son.
He says Taro now is no more than a savage. He has asked for more duty in
the air core. He wants to kill now for the sheer joy of killing. He
asks that O'Hara not hate Taro too much. O'Hara leaves.

Tama talks to O'Hara. She says Taro and she are going to visit her
parents for a few days. With a few days in the country, she believes Taro
will be back to his old self. O'Hara asks her if she is sure she wants to
marry him? Yes.

Tama is so happy to be with her parents again. But this happiness is
tarnished when she learns that her parents have sold her young sister to a
disreputable man. She asks Taro to buy her back, but Taro says no.
But soon he realizes that this could affect his whole future with Tama and he
gives in to her. Just then Taro learns that the Japanese have attacked the
United States of America at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Taro says he must report
to his unit. Tama asks him what about his promise to buy her sister back?
He says the only thing that matters now is Japan. He leaves.

Tama searches for her sister. She walks the streets of Tokyo. One
day the police take her into custody for being the secretary of the spy O'Hara.
She tells her interrogators that O'Hara is not a spy. Meanwhile the police
are torturing Sara Braden. The torturers ask if Miss Braden is ready to
confess that all her writings about Japan in China are lies? She says they
are not lies.

There have been many quick Japanese victories in Asia. Now Taro is flying
bombing raids over Burma.

O'Hara is tortured by sleep deprivation. The police inspector tortures
Lefty, who says that he is not a spy and neither is O'Hara. Tama and Sara
Braden are in a jail cell together next to the cell holding O'Hara. Taro
comes back to Japan, but does not go to see Tama. He has been told that
she is an enemy and that he is a hero. Dad writes that Taro swore away the
life of the girl he loved. Taro testifies that the entire group are spies
and they have been ever since he met them in the spring of 1936. He tells
the police interrogator that he broke off his relationship with Tama as a manner
of honor. After testifying, Colonel Taro Seki goes to speak with his
father. He justifies his lying about Tama and the others, saying there was
nothing he could do for them anyway. Dad says they will at least die with
honor. Taro takes exception to this remark and says: "Whatever is right
for Japan, is right for me. We are the masters of the world!" Dad is
very disappointed in his son.

Sara Braden asks O'Hara what they will do to them now? He keeps her
spirits up by saying: "I was just about to ask you to marry me."
Sara is a bit skeptical about this, but he assures her he is sincere.
Boris comes into the jail. He says that Max, in order to keep an eye on
hims, takes him wherever he goes and this time he came to the police. So
here he is. Boris tells them that Reo Seki is doing what he can to get
them released from jail. He is sure Seki will get them out. Just
then an air raid siren sounds. O'Hara wants the planes to bomb the hell
out of Tokyo.

Taro is sent up to shoot down some of the bombers.

The prisoners are being transferred to another jail. A special car sent
by Reo Seki waits for them. Tama, Sara and O'Hara get into the car and
they are driven away from Tokyo. Tama tells the driver to stop. She
is getting out. She says her place is in Japan. She wants to stay
and help the Japanese with the rebuilding of their society after the war. The two Americans are
going to be able to get out of Japan and go home.

An American bomber shoots Taro's plane down. The plane goes down in
flames. Dad writes that to die without reason is to have lived without reason.
He argues that the Japanese he knows must die with him. He writes that he
dies for the hope that the people of Japan may redeem themselves. He is
preparing to commits ritual suicide. He says for the spirits to destroy
them as
they have destroyed others. They must be destroyed before it is too late.

Enjoyed the film. I especially like the part dealing with the rise of
the fascists in pre-WW II Japan. Reo Seki, who became the minister of
propaganda, gradually over time became disillusioned by Japan. He saw what
was happening to Japan by watching how the wrong-headed Japanese society changed
his son into a savage killer looking to kill just for the fun of it. He
also mentions that Japan is still very much a feudal society where a few rich
families even control the Emperor. Interesting comments. And as is
Germany, violence was used to silence liberal opponents of state fascism.